A visit to the Picasso Museum is a moving experience.
It evokes joy and pain, despondency and exultation. Visitors
cannot help but sense all that has gone on within these walls
that were the Antibes Chateau. There was the delicate balance
of a family relationship and the ensuing drama; the intrusion
of the museum on the chateau; the silence and the magic. The
chateau of Antibes is poetic, serious and joyous at one and
the same time, like the sea that is visible from many of its
windows. A place which saw nobility and poverty and which one
day became the home of the Spanish artist Picasso, who continued
the magic. The museum is not to be understood, it is to be
experienced. It is what it is, take it or leave it.
Dor de la Souchère
Founded on the ancient acropolis of the Greek town Acropolis,
a Roman castle, residence of bishops in the Middle Ages (442
to 1385), the Chateau Grimaldi then became the home of the
Monaco family which gave it their name.
Luc and Marc Grimaldi, crossbowmen in the service of Queen
Jeanne, received the property as a private kingdom by the act
of 27 May 1383. There they reigned until 1608, date of the
purchase by Henry VI and Sully from Alexander Grimaldi of the
land, town and port of Antibes to the profit of the kingdom
of France.
It became the home of the king's governor, and
from 1792, the town hall. It was a military barracks in 1820,
marking the acquisition of it by the Military Engineering Corps
until 1924, but was greatly neglected in the meantime.
Professor of French, Greek and Latin at Lycée Carnot
in Cannes since 1921, Romuald Dor de la Souchère commenced
archeological research studies in Antibes in 1923, concentrating
on military establishments. He discovered a great many Greek
and Roman ruins in the area, and was very interested in the
sale of the chateau by the Domaines.
On 29 March 1924, Dor de la Souchère formed the Society
of Friends of Antibes Museum under the title of “Ligurian
Group of studies of history and archaeology”, which endeavoured
to found a history and archeology museum and to discover the
history of the region.
In 1925, the State fixed a sale price of F80,000 on the Chateau
Grimaldi, and it was bought by Antibes Council (with a F50,000
subsidy and money raised through sixty donations organised
by the Society of Friends). The chateau thus became the Grimaldi
Museum, and Romuald Sor de la Souchère was the curator.
Three years later, the building was classified as a historic
monument.
In September 1945, Pablo Picasso went
to the Grimaldi Museum for an exhibition of children's paintings,
organised
by the British Council, the first exhibition after the six
years the museum was closed because of the war.
From August
1946, Picasso and his young companion, Françoise
Gilot, stayed with the printer Louis Fort at his villa “Pour
Toi” in Golfe Juan port. Sculptor and photographer Michel Sima became
acquainted with Romuald Dor de la Souchère,
who knew Pablo Picasso. “One day at the beach,
he had the idea to ask him for a little drawing for the museum.
Picasso, as was his style, said that he would do it, but
wanted first to visit the museum.” (Jaime Sabartès
in Picasso in Antibes, René Drouin, publisher, 1948)
Romuald Dor de la Souchère then suggested that Picasso
use part of the museum as his studio, in particular the large
gallery called the south wing on the second floor. (In 1928,
this room displayed the work of artists such as Roger Bissière,
Pierre Bonnard, Maurice Denis, Henri Lebasque, Paul Signac,
Kees van Dongen, Maurice de Vlaminck ... for the Masters
and Young Contemporaries Exhibition (22 July to 22 August 1928),
the first exhibition of modern painting organised at the museum).
Picasso was enthusiastic: “I'm not only going
to paint, I'll decorate the museum too.” (Francoise
Gilot in Living with Picasso, Calmann-Levy 1965). He
worked at the chateau from mid-September to mid-November
and produced a great deal of work, both drawings and
paintings, among them The Keys of Antibes, on a wall
panel. In September 1947, he painted Ulysses
and the mermaids.
The unusual materials that he used, such as house paint,
fibrocement and plates, show not only the penury of this
post-war period, but also the incredible resourcefulness
of the artist to experiment with materials that were
available.
His paintings show the joy he felt at living in a country
that was once more free.
Following his stay in 1946, Pablo Picasso left
what he had produced to Antibes town: 23 paintings
(ripolin, charcoal, graphite on fibrocement, re-used
wood or canvas) and 44 drawings. Among his paintings,
the most famous are: La Joie de Vivre, Satyr,
Faun and satyr with trident, Sea Urchins, Woman with
Sea
Urchins, Still Life with Owl and three Sea Urchins,
The Goat ... Among his drawings, the most representative
are: Antipolis Suite, Heads of Fauns and Studies
for the Female figure.
On 27 September 1947 the Picasso Room was officially
opened and the first exhibition of art of Antibes was
shown in the west room, with a large number of people
present, the first event that celebrated the artist's
stay in Antibes.
On 7 September 1948, the New Picasso Collection:
Ceramics-Paintings-Drawings was on show to the public.
This exhibition showed his significant ceramic skill
with 77 pieces (51 dated 1947 and 14 dated 1948) done
at the Madoura studio in Vallauris. Among these were
the well-known Tanagra urn, Standing bull,
Owl in ovoid, The wader, The condor, Kid goat reclining ... In 1950
and 1954, 1 painting and 2 sculptures (Head
of woman with chignon, 1932 and Head
of woman with big eyes,
1931-32) completed this collection.
On 13 September 1949, at the opening of the “French
carpets” exhibition, a new gallery dedicated
to the paintings, ceramics and drawings of Picasso
was open to the public.
On 23 February 1957, Picasso
officially received the title of Citizen of
honour of Antibes at a ceremony
at Chateau Grimaldi.
On 27 December 1966, Antibes council
once more paid homage to Pablo Picasso and Chateau
Grimaldi was renamed the Picasso Museum, the first
museum dedicated to the artist.
In 1990, the Jacqueline
Picasso bequest added greatly to the Picasso collection,
it comprised 4 paintings,
10 drawings, 2 ceramics and 6 etchings. From 1952
to 2001, different donations and acquisitions included
3 works on paper, 60 etchings and 6 carpets by Pablo
Picasso. The Picasso Museum in Antibes holds approximately
245 works by the artist today.
The work by Nicolas de Stael was executed during
a stay by the painter in Antibes from September 1954
to March 1955. During this time he produced still lifes
and marine and countryside scenes. The donation of
his work to the Picasso Museum was made by his widow
at the 1955 exhibition of the artist's work.
From 1982, aided by Regional Art Collection funds,
Antibes council acquired important work from his
last period, as well as drawings done in 1954.
In
2001, a donation by the Hans Hartung and Anna-Eva
Bergman Foundation enabled two new galleries to be
opened on the ground floor of the museum. A permanent
exhibition of the two artists' work over several
decades was installed.
The collection of modern art, started in 1951
by Dor de la Souchère, has been added to with
donations by exhibiting artists as well as purchases
over the years by Antibes council.
Important 20th
century artists representing different art movements
are in the collections, including Hartung,
Klein, Magnelli, Music, Pagès, Picabia, Pincemin,
Raysse, Spoerri, Viallat and many more.
On the terrace of the Picasso Museum, there is a
permanent exhibition of an excellent collection of
sculptures by Germaine Richier. Other artists exhibited
there are Joan Miro, Bernard Pagès, Anne and
Patrick Poirier.
